The Las Vegas Aces sent six players to the Olympic Games in Paris during the WNBA break, four of which won Gold Medals for Team USA. The other two were Megan Gustafson, who played for the Spanish team, and Tiffany Hayes, who played for Azerbaijan’s 3x3 team.
I have discussed at length the issues that plagued the Aces through the first 24 games of the season, which are major roadblocks in the way of a championship. But there are other notable stories to watch for as the second half of the season gets underway, as well as a few headlines that the team made recently.
The Aces have three of the league’s best
ESPN released their ranking of the WNBA’s top 25 current players, and there are some familiar names near the top.
A’ja Wilson is still considered to be the No. 1 player in the league by ESPN, as she was in the preseason. Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum join her on the list at the sixth and eleventh spots respectively. Young has moved up one spot from the preseason, while Plum has dropped three.
Despite the drop, the Aces have three of the league’s top 11 players, which is an incredible thing to lean on as the pressure of the postseason looms. The New York Liberty have three of the top seven players in the league, however, so this Aces team is not as supremely talented in comparison to other teams as in years past.
No matter the talent, the team will have to gel at a higher level in the post-Olympic portion of the schedule if they want to make a run at a three-peat. The return of a healthy Chelsea Gray to run the offense could do wonders for this unit.
Will the Aces be exhausted from their Olympic run?
Dustin Schutte of Sports Illustrated posed this question, and there is some merit to it. While most teams were at home resting, the Aces had over half of their roster in France for the Olympics.
While it is beneficial to keep playing games and remaining in a high-level, high-pressure environment to prepare yourself for the latter part of the season, rest is important too.
The fear is that the team gets out to another slow start in the second portion of the season, and with so much ground to make up in the race for homecourt advantage, the heavy minutes played by Aces players in Paris could catch up to them.
Sabreena Merchant of The Athletic thinks that this workload will catch up with them.
Because the Aces’ three best players are among the W’s top minute-getters, and they played extensively in the Olympics, these three are bound to hit a wall. Not only this, but the Aces have 16 games left, which is the most remaining in the league.
To get homecourt advantage, Merchant points out that they will have to leapfrog over teams ahead of them, and they will have to do so in unfavorable conditions. She still thinks that Wilson and the Aces can make a run, but not being the frontrunners and having command of the league is a new challenge for the team, so there is a learning curve.
ESPN’s Neil Paine also thinks the Aces have a bit of an uphill battle, as their talent may not be enough to make up for their deficiencies on both sides of the ball. Their playoff prowess is something to note, but they may be swept up into the New York Liberty’s “revenge tour.”
A’ja Wilson’s quest for her third MVP Award
Sports Illustrated believes that there is no real contest in terms of dethroning Wilson from her mark as the league’s best player. She leads the league in points, rebounds, and assists, also ranking fourth in steals, so it is a tall task for another player to match that production.
Napheesa Collier is someone who Schutte notes could be a potential challenger, as she is near the top of the league in those same categories, and her team currently has a better record.
Merchant and Ben Pickman of The Athletic both think Wilson will repeat as MVP. There is no real contest in their minds, and by winning MVP again, Wilson will join the all-time greats of the W.
Paine also acknowledged that Wilson is etching her name into the record books by currently being on pace to set the league records in points and rebounds per game, as well as the highest player efficiency rating in the league’s history.
She could also lead the league in scoring by the largest margin since the first season of the WNBA in 1997. This historic campaign is sure to end in an MVP, and most likely, by a unanimous vote
The Aces return to the court on Saturday, August 17 against the New York Liberty.